Experiments with Natural Granites and Related Rocks

The first melting experiments on granitic and basaltic rocks were carried out by Hall (1805) at the end of the 18th century. Hall’s pioneering attempts were aimed to provide experimental support for Hutton’s theory on the origin of granites by crystallization of magmas. During the last decades of the 19th century and the first of this one, new attempts were made to determine the melting temperatures of natural rocks of granitic and basaltic composition by heating small specimens until they softened in laboratory furnaces. Melting temperatures for granites were reported in the range 1100–1300 °C. These are values as high or even higher than melting temperatures reported for basaltic rocks (Fouqué and Lévy 1882; Douglas 1907).